House Corona Crisis Final Report is a disaster

by Meryl Nass | Dec 17, 2022

“III. Moving Forward: Recommendations for Continuing Ongoing Management of the Coronavirus and Preventing and Addressing Future Public Health and Economic Crises

A. Critical Investments Are Needed to Sustain the Ongoing Response to the Coronavirus, Reinvigorate a Chronically Underfunded Public Health Infrastructure, and Bolster the Nation’s Ability to Prevent and Respond to Future Public Health Emergencies.

Decades-long underinvestment and longstanding health disparities left the nation’s health care system and public health workforce inadequately prepared to respond to the coronavirus, exacerbating the pandemic’s impact, particularly among communities of color, rural communities, and low-income communities. As the coronavirus continues to spread, it is important for the federal government to invest in new tests, treatments, and vaccines, help combat misinformation, and accelerate research and treatment into Long COVID. Policy changes and sustained investments are also critically needed to strengthen the nation’s ability to prevent and respond to future public health crises. These measures include safeguarding scientific integrity, reinvigorating core public health programs, modernizing public health infrastructure, and addressing persistent health inequities.

1. A targeted bivalent booster campaign could prevent thousands of deaths and hospitalizations and save billions of dollars. [WTF?—Nass]

Despite the resounding evidence that the coronavirus vaccines authorized in the United States are safe and effective, millions of Americans are currently not up to date with their vaccines, including many who are only partially vaccinated or vaccinated but not yet boosted. Earlier this year, FDA authorized updated mRNA bivalent booster shots developed by Pfizer and Moderna to target the Omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariants. According to FDA and CDC, these bivalent boosters offer better protection against Omicron subvariants than the original monovalent vaccines. [But not according to anyone else—Nass] Yet uptake of these bivalent boosters has lagged with only 13% of adults having received a bivalent booster as of late November 2022.742 With waning population immunity and the threat of new variants, surges in hospitalizations and deaths during the upcoming winter are increasingly likely.

Recommendation: Increase bivalent booster uptake. Research shows that an aggressive booster campaign could prevent tens of thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations as well as generate billions of dollars in savings in direct medical costs by the end of March 2023. The Biden Administration has dedicated significant resources to offer free bivalent booster shots at tens of thousands of locations across the country, including by standing up new community vaccination centers, focusing outreach to older Americans and immunocompromised individuals, and launching a comprehensive public education campaign with national and local organizations.

Here is a good one: Recommendation: Federal agencies must review and close gaps in their diligence processes so they can more effectively identify bad actors before awarding procurement contracts.

Here is another good one that will never happen in our current system: Recommendation: Federal agencies must ensure that scientific decision-making is protected from political interference.

Here is more money to propagandize Americans about government-public health fairy tales: Recommendation: Modernize public health communications to ensure critical information is accessible to all Americans, including communities that are often missed or ignored.

Recommendation: Explore opportunities to limit the spread of misinformation.

* Finally, buried at #8, we find the verbiage that will allow Congress to give the WHO sovereignty under the guise of a public health response: Recommendation: The federal government should increase its collaboration with international partners to strengthen its ability to protect people from future threats and mount a coordinated, effective, and equitable response to major global health crises when they do occur.